Varied points of view rise from Trump, an ally and Iran as Middle East tensions flare

President Donald Trump is downplaying the escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China, calling it "a little squabble" between friends. Trump is also dismissing a report that the U.S. is planning for a military conflict with Iran. (May 14)
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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is struggling to present a unified message on Iran with one high-profile military official undercutting the basis for his administration's confrontational strategy and outside experts increasingly questioning the U.S. endgame.

As bombers recently deployed to the Middle East flew their first message-sending sorties, the president appeared to be caught between hard line advisers calling for more aggressive action against Tehran and others attempting to avoid an escalation.

In a remarkable break with the Trump administration, a British general who is the No. 2 officer in the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq said Tuesday that the threat from Iran is no greater than it was months ago, drawing a quick rebuke from the Pentagon.

Trump, meanwhile, dismissed a report he is planning to send additional troops to the Middle East but also insisted he would do so "absolutely" if needed.

"I really don’t see any benefit from the contradictory messaging," said John McLaughlin, a former deputy director at the CIA who teaches at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. "It leaves the Iranians confused, our allies discouraged, and the American public puzzled and concerned."

All of the saber rattling left some experts questioning whether the White House is attempting to repeat the aggressive stance it took toward North Korea before then softening the rhetoric in exchange for temporary concessions Trump used to claim success. Experts have questioned the strategy after Kim Jong Un restarted missile tests shortly after Trump praised the North Korea leader for suspending them.

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Media personnel interview Lt. Alex Degelder, a pilot from "Fist of the Fleet" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 25, during a visit aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) on May 6, 2019 while sailing in the Adriatic Sea. Abraham Lincoln is deployed with the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group in support of maritime security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th, U.S. 6th and U.S. 7th Fleet areas of operation. MCSN Michael S. Singley, U.S. Navy

An F/A-18E Super Hornet from the "Fist of the Fleet" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 25 launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) on May 3, 2019 in the Ionian Sea. MCSN Michael S. Singley, U.S. Navy

Sailors heave a line in the hangar bay of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) during a replenishment-at-sea with the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE 8) on April 29, 2019 in the Mediterranean Sea. MCSN Michael Singley, U.S. Navy

The color guard folds the national ensign aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) while anchored off the coast of Palma de Mallorca, Spain on April 15, 2019 in the Mediterranean Sea. MC3 Amber Smalley, U.S. Navy

A group of bombers was also dispatched as Bolton cited increasing alarm over threats to the thousands of U.S. troops in the region.

The next day, Pentagon spokesman Charles Summers noted “indications of heightened Iranian readiness to conduct offensive operations against U.S. forces and our interests.”

Ominously, the Pentagon announced the bombers were B-52s. Though the Stratofortress aircraft first flew in the Cold War, the huge warplanes have been updated and can loiter aloft with an arsenal of sophisticated weaponry that can be launched from a safe distance at targets inside Iran.

Two days after Bolton’s announcement, Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said the military had detected “credible threat streams emanating from the regime in Iran throughout the CENTCOM area of responsibility.”

By the end of the week, the Pentagon announced it was bolstering the force, sending a Marine transport ship, the USS Arlington, and Patriot air-defense missiles to the region. Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, who commands U.S. forces in the Middle East, had made the request for additional forces, the Pentagon revealed.

Meantime, senior military officials, including Patrick Shanahan, the acting Defense Secretary, met quietly on Thursday to develop plans to send as many as 120,000 U.S. troops to the region, according to the New York Times.

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President Donald Trump is warning Iran, saying that if Tehran does "anything" in the form of an attack "they will suffer greatly."
AP

What's the latest?

Trump offered somewhat contradictory statements Tuesday. Asked about the New York Times report that the administration was considering sending 120,000 troops , the president said no such plans are in the works.

But then, in the next breath, he ratcheted up his anti-Iran rhetoric.

"Would I do that? Absolutely," Trump said of troops. If the administration decided to deploy soldiers to the region, he said, "we’d send a hell of lot more troops than that."

His comments were at odds with U.S. officials, and Capt. Urban, the spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement that Ghrika is wrong.

Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, cautioned against reading too much into the apparent disagreement between coalition officials.

A "threat includes intent to pull the trigger, not just capability – not just more preparatory activity," he said. "So until the trigger is, in fact, pulled, one can have a full and rich debate."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was traveling in Russia on Tuesday, appeared to tamp down escalating tensions.

"We fundamentally do not see a war with Iran," Pompeo said when asked about the New York Times report during a news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He said the U.S. wants Iran to stop funding terrorist groups and "behave like a normal country."

What does Iran say?

Hamid Baeidinejad, Iran’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, said Trump made a "serious miscalculation" in deploying an aircraft carrier strike group, B-52 bombers and other military personnel and equipment to the Persian Gulf to counter alleged, unspecified Iranian threats.

Baeidinejad denied that Iran or its "proxies" were behind what Washington described as the "sabotage" of oil tankers in the Gulf belonging to Saudi Arabia, Norway and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia said drones attacked one of its oil pipelines and other energy infrastructure, an incident that caused global oil price benchmarks to jump.

"We are prepared for any eventuality," Baeidinejad said. "This I can tell you."

Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, and National Security Advisor John Bolton, left, in New York, on Sept. 24, 2018.(Photo: Justin Lane/epa-EFE)